Dhingri Dolma is a delicious, mildly spiced, semi-dry curry recipe featuring earthy button mushrooms and soft paneer (Indian cottage cheese) in a savory base of onions, tomatoes, herbs and caraway seeds (shahi jeera).

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 15 minutes
  • Cook time: 25 minutes
  • Total time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 3
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Awadhi, North Indian

Ingredients

  • 250 grams paneer (crumbled or grated)
  • 200 to 250 grams button mushrooms (sliced or chopped)
  • 1 medium onion (chopped or ⅓ cup chopped onion)
  • 1 large tomato (cut in 1 cm cubes or ¾ cup tomato cubes)
  • 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste (or 1 inch ginger ginger + 3 to 4 garlic cloves, crushed in mortar-pestle)
  • ½ teaspoon caraway seeds ((shahi jeera))
  • ¼ teaspoon red chili powder
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper powder (or white pepper powder)
  • 2 tablespoons butter (or ghee or oil)
  • 2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves
  • ¼ teaspoon garam masala
  • 1 inch ginger (julienne)
  • salt (as required)

Method

Preparation

  1. Rinse or wipe dry the button mushrooms. Slice or chop the mushrooms.
  2. Also chop the onions and cut the tomatoes in cubes.
  3. Crush the ginger and garlic to a paste in a mortar-pestle.
  4. Grate the paneer or you can crumble it also.

Making Dhingri Dolma

  1. Melt butter or ghee in a pan. You can also use oil instead of butter.
  2. Add the caraway seeds (shahi jeera) and sauté till they splutter.
  3. Then add onions and saute them stirring often till they turn light brown on medium-low to medium heat.
  4. Next add the ginger-garlic paste and sauté for a few seconds or till the raw aroma of the ginger garlic paste goes away.
  5. Now add the tomatoes.
  6. Then add the spice powders - red chili powder and black pepper or white pepper powder.
  7. Stir very well and saute till the tomatoes soften on medium-low heat.
  8. Now add the chopped mushrooms. Stir them well and begin to saute them.
  9. The mushrooms would first begin to release water. Sauté on a medium-low to medium heat stirring occasionally, till the all the water dries up.
  10. A light browning of the mushrooms along the edges is alright.
  11. Now add the grated or crumbled paneer.
  12. Sprinkle garam masala powder and salt as required.
  13. Stir and mix the paneer with the rest of the ingredients. On a low heat cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute and then switch off the heat.
  14. Lastly add the chopped coriander leaves and ginger julienne. Mix well.
  15. Serve dhingri dolma hot or warm with roti, naan or chapati. You can also serve them with whole wheat bread.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.